Surface Pro 2 details leak with refined kickstand and memory boost

We've known for a while that Microsoft is working on a successor to its Surface Pro tablet, something that will hopefully better meet consumers' expectations after the company experienced less than anticipated enthusiasm for its Windows 8 tablet. Details on the tablet have surfaced, among them being a Haswell processor, more memory, and an improved kickstand.

The information was acquired by the folks over at Neowin, who say the next-generation Surface Pro will feature a Haswell-based Core i5 processor and will get a memory bump from 4GB to 8GB. The design is said to be similar to what you get with the current Surface Pro model, but with one exception: the kickstand has been changed.

With the hardware changes will come battery life improvements, an area where many had complaints. It is said that Microsoft has "refined" the kickstand, but unfortunately it wasn't specified what those refinements entail -- could be anything from offering more positions or angles than the current version, or it could simply be stronger than the one on the current generation.

As with the first Surface tablets, Microsoft will roll out a red carpet media campaign to get consumers' attention, with the next marketing efforts said to be more educational and less flashy than the original round. The focus will be on things like information potential buyers about the perks of the device and what it offers.